Not Everything Is Black and White

There's some gray in there, too ;)

I used my new Spiral Bouquet set from Papertrey Ink again. The set is designed as a two-step set ... each image has a solid, shadow stamp and a separate spiral, line-art stamp that can be layered on top to add detail.

I thought this particular line-art detail stamp would make a nice flourish to frame something. Here I framed the "i miss you" sentiment, but I think it would also work to frame an image. Also, if you stamp this image end-to-end, first facing left, then facing right, and so on, you get a wonderful border. Because the stamps are clear polymer on acrylic blocks, you can see through everything for near-perfect placement without the use of a stamp positioner. Gotta love clear sometimes!



Behind the brads that make the flower centers, I added 1/4" Basic Gray circles for a little extra oomph. I got the idea to do this from Beate Johns a while back.

Supplies (Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Spiral Bouquet (Papertrey Ink), All-Year Cheer II
Paper: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Going Gray (yes, Going Gray ... the Basic Gray ink was too dark)
Accessories: paper piercer, 1" circle punch, large oval punch, designer label punch, gray taffeta ribbon, black grosgrain ribbon, 1/8" hole punch, 1/4" circle punch, corner rounder (for scalloped edge), vintage brads, ticket corner punch

Quick & Simple

SCS's color challenge this week is Summer Sun, Certainly Celery, and Old Olive. I used a Penny Black stamp called Passion. The Celery designer prints paper helped this card come together in record time.

For the main image, I colored the stamp with the Summer Sun and Old Olive markers. On the edges of the small flowers, I added a little More Mustard (using a marker). For the larger flowers, I added a more subtle hint of Mustard by using a sponge dauber just around the edges, and then filled in a few areas with the More Mustard watercolor crayon. I wanted the flowers to have a little more depth.

To get the embossed look along the edge of the main panel, I cut a smaller piece of chipboard, centered it over the main image, ran it through the Cuttlebug, then went online and ordered some rectangle Nestabilities ;) (Seriously, I did order them!)

Supplies:
Stamps: Passion (by Penny Black), Tiny Talk (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Celery designer prints (Stampin' Up!)
Inks: Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Summer Sun, and More Mustard markers, scallop punch, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, wide olive grosgrain ribbon, yellow grosgrain (retired?), Cuttlebug

Spiral Bouquet

I used my new Spiral Bouquet stamp set from Papertrey Ink for this card. This set mysteriously made its way into my shopping cart while I was buying my circle nestabilities ;) I love it! [Sorry for the black card against the dark background. I'll try to get a better photo.]

The layout comes from Jen del Muro's Sketch for You to Try. Check out her website: i{heart}2stamp. She posts her sketches on Saturdays. They're always fun!

The color scheme is inspired by Sharon Johnson's Wintergreen Tags that you'll find on her No Time To Stamp website. I love how the black sets off the colors in the Wintergreen paper.

Supplies (Stampin' Up! except where otherwise noted):
Stamps: Spiral Bouquet (by Papertrey Ink), Cute Converse
Paper: Basic Black, Sage Shadow, Whisper White, Wintergreen designer paper
Inks: Basic Black, Sage Shadow, Soft Sky, Always Artichoke
Accessories: 1" circle punch, large oval punch, paper piercer, silver brads, white grosgrain ribbon, soft sky double-stithced ribbon, ticket corner punch

Pajama Inspired

Ever since I bought these cute, funky pajamas for my daughter a year or more ago, I've wanted to make this card. I finally did it!

Supplies (Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Linen background, Big Pieces
Ink: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White, Soft Sky, Taken with Teal
Accessories: large oval punch, crop-a-dile, chocolate wide grosgrain ribbon, sponge daubers, paper piercer, pewter jumbo brad (Close to My Heart), glitter pen (Sakura), pinking scissors (source unknown)

Mojo 13 Sketch Challenge

Julee T's Mojo 13 Sketch this week looked super fun! Here's my take.

Supplies (Stampin' Up, unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Time Well Spent, Just Jeans background, Canvas background
Paper: So Saffron, Ruby Red, Always Artichoke, 140 lb cold press watercolor paper
Inks: Jet Black Staz-On, So Saffron, Ruby Red, Bashful Blue, Always Artichoke
Accessories: twill, artichoke brads, paper piercer, nestabilities (new!!) [by Spellbinders], dimensionals, sponge daubers, crystal effects

Princess Thanks

Boy, do I get the sidetracked award! For a month, I have remembered and then promptly forgotten to get my daughter's birthday thank-yous made and sent out. Her party was on November 3rd. It's TIME. (It's past time.)

After explaining that we couldn't buy five of the adorable Jolee's Cinderellas at Michael's because they were $4.99 each, we finally settled on some inexpensive princess stickers. I was highly skeptical I could make anything remotely cute, but at this point, as long as they got done, I didn't care a whit what they looked like.

Go figure, they turned out kinda cute! [I'm convinced it's because I used my new Nestabilities dies that just came in the mail today (!!!). They make anything look better, ya know?]

I needed 5 thank-yous, but only had 4 of the large princess trio stickers, so I did a second design that I actually like even better:



What's really cool is that Sharon at No Time To Stamp has a Stamp Simply Challenge up right now to use, guess what?, *stickers* as the main image of your card! I get to play!

Supplies (Stampin' Up, unless otherwise specified):
Stamps: Priceless
Paper: Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Pink Passion, White craft
Accessories: nestabilities (by Spellbinders), slit punch, white gel pen, paper piercer, black gingham ribbon, 3/4" and 1" circle punches, Disney Princess stickers (by Sandy Lion)

Comme Ci, Comme Ca

That was my favorite phrase when I was learning to speak French. Literally translated, it means, "as this, as that." To the French, it's a phrase that means "so so," as in mediocre ... as in today's project. As in, I'm just not that excited about it, and therefore don't have much to say.

Have a great Friday!

Supplies:
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, and More Mustard card stock by Stampin' Up; soft sky designer prints paper by Stampin' Up!
Accessories: turquoise and mustard vinyl flowers by American Crafts; red felt flower by American Crafts, chipboard letters by Heidi Swapp and American Crafts, silver brads by Stampin' Up!